F WARSAW PACT TANKERS

The Warsaw Pact was a political and military alliance of the Eastern bloc countries in which the USSR played a dominant role, which was emphasized, for example, by the fact that the Commander of the United Armed Forces of the Pact was always a high-ranking Soviet officer. The Pact included countries such as Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and, of course, the Soviet Union. The treaty was created in 1955 as a direct response to the remilitarization of West Germany carried out a year earlier (1954). It is estimated that in the 1980s, the total number of tanks in the armed forces of the Pact countries was approximately 53,000, of which 12-15,000 were was in armies other than the Soviet. Of course, the armored equipment of the Warsaw Pact troops was primarily Soviet (imported or licensed). Thus, the armies of the Pact served such vehicles as the T-54, T-55, T-62 or - on a large scale - T-72. It is worth adding that the USSR did not export T-64 tanks. It is worth adding that in the 1980s, the Polish People's Army was the second largest armed force in the Warsaw Pact. There were 8 mechanized divisions and 5 armored divisions in the LWP. The Polish armored division then consisted of 3 tank regiments and 1 mechanized infantry regiment. Her position was, among others: about 9,300 soldiers, 283 tanks and 106 IFVs. It is assumed that the LWP had approximately 3,000 tanks at its disposal at that time (both in line and in warehouses).